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BY RON BARR

Over the years I’ve heard fans and listeners complain about how much athletes make.  While I understand their frustration, jealousy and animosity about paying someone to play a game, I try to get them to see it’s not the athletes’ fault their getting obscene paychecks.  It’s what the market will bear and it’s what the owners are willing to pay them.

Also, remember, without the athlete, there is no business of baseball, football, basketball or any other professional sport.  The fans’ response to players’ salaries is, “I’d do it for free.”  That’s followed by me saying, “I’m sure you would because you’re not good enough to be paid.”  Then there’s usually silence as my statement sinks in.  Also, I ask them that if someone offered them millions of dollars a year to do whatever it is they do, would they say to their boss, “No thanks, I think that’s too much money to pay me for doing what I doing.”  I’ve yet to have a listener or a fan say, “Sure I’d say that.”

While I’m a supporter of athletes, or anyone making as much money as they can and their employer is willing to pay them, I think it’s stupid for owners to pay players gobs of money for contracts of more than three years.  Paying someone millions for five or ten years, based on one or two good years of performance, is not only insane, it’s irresponsible.  Now, I know the rationale is we better lock up this player or someone else will come along and take him away with an offer of more money.  That’s always possible.  But consider this, when it comes to players, their skills diminish with time.  And, injuries and body wear and tear add to the deterioration of their skills.  It may make some sense to sign a star athlete to a 5-year deal when they’re in their 20’s, but not when they reach their 30’s.  Any athlete in any sport is on the backside of their career in their 30’s and you’re asking for competitive trouble if a team makes a long term commitment to them.

With that in mind, let me give you an example.  Phillies star Ryan Howard just agreed to a 5 year, 125 million dollar contract extension that doesn’t kick in for two more years.  That means he has this season and next under his old contract that will play him 39 million dollars.  Howard will be 32 years old when he would have become a free agent, and the Phillies wanted to tie him up now with what they think is at a bargain price and take him off the free agent market.  Howard’s new deal is the second largest contract behind Alex Rodriguez’s, 10-year, 275 million-dollar deal with the Yankees.  What Philadelphia has done is commit 164 million dollars to Ryan Howard over the next 7 years.

Now I have no problem with Howard’s individual season salary, which will average 25 million dollars in his new deal.  The stupid part is thinking he’ll be worth 25 million dollars in 2017 when he’s 37 years old.  Age, injuries and younger competition will more likely make him highly overpaid at 25 million dollars.  The Phillies do have an out in 2017.  They can save 15 million dollars by paying Howard 10 million and letting him go.  They save 15 million dollars, but they get nothing for the 10 million dollars they pay him to get out of the last year of the deal.  Does that make any sense?  Especially when you figure that if they don’t pickup his year number five option, then he probably wasn’t good or going downhill in his 4th year, and possibly his 3rd year, when they also paid him 25 million dollars a season.  Of course, Howard could be an exception, but history and the odds are against that being the case.

The bottom line is the Phillies are rolling the dice and hoping Howard doesn’t get hurt, that he’s still playing well when his new deal kicks in two years, and he’s still playing well enough in the 5th year of the new deal when he’s 37 years old.  Name me another business that would commit 164 million dollars over the next 7 years to one person with that hope?  And, think about this, how competitive will the Phillies be if they’re wrong and they’re financially not able to field a competitive team because of the long-term contract commitment they made to Howard? 

There’s nothing wrong with athletes making big bucks or teams spending big bucks.  It’s how they’re doing it that doesn’t make any sense. 

I’m Ron Barr.

Ron Barr is an Emmy award winning writer and the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated sports talk show, Sports Byline USA.